IJAMSVILLE — Nothing was going to stop 6-foot-5 forward Cory Schlee when Oakdale coach Terry Connolly told him to take over Tuesday night’s game against crosstown rival Linganore.

All night long, even in the midst of double teams, confidence exuded from Schlee’s every move. After an abysmal first half shooting display of 28 percent, including 0 of 10 from deep, Schlee shouldered the offensive load down the stretch, finishing with 25 points on 9 of 12 shooting to carry No 25 Oakdale to a 56-44 win over No. 22 Linganore.

Thirteen of his 25 points came in the second half, and his final six slammed the door on a Linganore comeback when they pulled it to within 46-42.

“I knew when I had the ball, they couldn’t guard me,” Schlee said. “They were a little undersized as a team, and their big guys aren’t that athletic. So right when I get the ball, I can go up, and they’re going to foul me, which they did.”

Schlee’s only three misses came from behind the arc. Everything inside proposed a near unstoppable task for Linganore. The senior forward also converted 7 of 11 free throw attempts, with all seven conversions and nine attempts coming in the first half, providing stability to an offense that succumbed to Linganore’s 3-2 zone.

“He can do it all,” Connolly said of Schlee.

Schlee’s offense in the first half was just enough to keep Oakdale (7-1) around to make a push in the deciding minutes.

His two free throws knotted the game at 12-12 a little over a minute into the second quarter, and his three-point-play brought Oakdale to within 18-17 with 3 minutes and 35 seconds left until halftime. After Oakdale missed two 3-pointers in a row on the same possession, Schlee, using his height to out-muscle an undersized Linganore team, grabbed an offensive rebound and drew a foul on the put-back attempt.

Two free throws cut Linganore’s lead to two, 21-19, right before the intermission.

The first half in which Oakdale went 7-for-25 was similar to their lone loss against Thomas Johnson, when the Bears shot 32 percent while letting up 54 percent. On Tuesday, Linganore shot 45.5 percent (10 of 22) in the first half compared to the Bears’ 28 percent mark.

‘There’s going to be some nights when you don’t shoot well, and that (Thomas Johnson) game was a prime example,” Connolly said. “We hung tough and continued to attack and be aggressive when it was there. That’s what you got to do.”

Oakdale opened the first 3 minutes and 40 seconds of the second half on a 12-2 run to take a 33-25 lead. Bradley Foster finished a putback to ignite the run. After Schlee’s layup to knot the game at 25-25, Drew Jeziori (eight points and five assists) pushed Oakdale ahead, 27-25, on two free throws. Schlee extended Oakdale’s lead to 29-25 on a contact layup and sophomore Colin Schlee (eight points, five rebounds and two steals) widened the advantage to 31-25 on a transition bucket.

Foster’s mid-range jumper then gave Oakdale a 33-25 lead.

Harry Rasmussen’s three-point play sparked a 10-2 run in the final 3 minutes and 56 seconds of the third quarter. A Nick Lang layup and floater on back-to-back possessions brought Linganore within three, 35-32, and Rasmussen’s 3-pointer to beat the third quarter buzzer tied the game at 35-35.

Harry Rasmussen hits a 3 before the buzzer to knot No. 22 Linganore and No. 25 Oakdale at 35-35 going into the fourth. 8 to go pic.twitter.com/C0CHWgecfE

Oakdale opened the fourth quarter on a 6-0 run to take a 41-35 lead and soon took a 46-37 lead when they forced Linganore out of their 3-2 zone. After Austin Lohneis dropped in a floater to make it 41-37, Schlee finished a putback and two possessions later, J.P. DeLorenzo buried a 3-pointer to swell Oakdale’s lead to nine with 4:21 to go.

Linganore got to within four, 46-42, with under 2:30 left, but that’s when the elder Schlee put Oakdale’s first win of the 2017 calendar year on ice with six emphatic points down the stretch.

Oakdale shot 60 percent in the second half (15-for-25) and 44 percent for the game.

“Once we break zones, and get teams man-on-man, that’s what we really want,” Schlee said, who also added three rebounds.

Kyle McFadden is a graduate from Linganore High School's Class of 2014, a sports junkie and general news-hound. He got his start as a sports writer in January 2014 for Linganore's student-run newspaper The Lance, where he wrote 13 articles.
McFadden then launched his own blog in October 2014 called The Beltway Dispatch covering collegiate, local high school and professional sports. Formally known as The Beltway Dispatch, McFadden and Evan Engelhard merged respective platforms in June 2015 to make what is now Maryland Sports Access.
With baseball, basketball and golf experience, McFadden brings ample knowledge to the helm of MSA. McFadden covers a wide variety of sports in football, baseball, basketball, golf, hockey, lacrosse, soccer and specializes in the collegiate and high school levels.
McFadden volunteers his time at Damascus Road Community Church -- serving as a mentor to the youth, basketball coach at the varsity and junior varsity levels, and leads a small group of high school sophomores every Wednesday night.
Although he's only been around journalism since January 2014, he's a high school sports reporter for The Baltimore Sun and freelancer for The Frederick News-Post.
McFadden's work has also appeared in DMV newspapers The Aegis, The Capital Gazette, The Daily Times (Delmarva Now), The Hometown Observer, Howard County Times, Germantown Pulse and The Towson Times. He's also won two Mike Powell Excellence in Journalism awards and has appeared on The Best of SNO, which showcases top student work of high school and college journalists.
McFadden currently studies at Frederick Community College and plans to transfer to the University of Maryland in the fall of 2018 to work on a bachelor's degree in journalism with aspirations to be a national college basketball writer.